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ESTA SUMMER SCHOOL 2019

We have an amazing line up for this year’s summer school! It’s a US-themed week which includes Joanne May and Joanne Erwin taking our daily basics sessions, both of whom are world renowned Paul Rolland exponents, plus daily sessions from incredible American violinist Mark O’Connor.

Come and join us for a truly inspirational week of learning, recharging your batteries, challenging yourself and meeting some fantastic people – all at a great venue too!

Professional development lies at the heart of the European String Teachers Association and each year the Summer School draws together a world-class faculty of teacher-presenters to share experiences and pedagogic insights into teaching and playing string instruments.

2019 promises an inspiring series of workshops, lectures, demonstrations and concerts. Participants range from young professionals to semi-retired players giving a unique mix of experiences and opportunity for sharing of ideas and knowledge. Informal chamber music groups spring up every evening around suppertime and after the concerts.

The programme retains its ever popular Basics (String Pedagogy) classes which take an in depth view of how we play and teach string instruments. Every year these classes take on their own special life as the presenter and participants change and the class evolves to suit everyone’s interests and needs.

The Summer School is residential at Chichester University. If you’re local please feel free to commute but if you can, do immerse yourself in the whole experience. It’s amazing what conversations get started at breakfast!

Here you can book the entire week. If you just want individual days then please email sheila@estastrings.org.uk. Please be aware that the daily rate does not include accommodation. This is an extra charge of £43 per night. (Accommodation is included in the whole week’s fee.)

ESTA members are eligible to apply for bursaries. Click HERE for more details.

Faculty Biography

PRESENTING FACULTY

Joanne May: Upper Strings Pedagogy

Joanne May is Assistant Professor of Music and director of the Philharmonic Orchestra, chair of the string department, and music education instructor at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois. During her tenure at Elmhurst College she founded the annual Elmhurst College World Music Festival, assisted in writing the course String Improvisation for Educators, and helped to add four new string faculty members to the department. She has conducted the Elmhurst College Philharmonic for performances at the Illinois Music Education Conference and in Millennium Park for the Chicago World Music Festival, and she developed annual performance tours for the orchestra in several states.

A student of Paul Rolland for three years as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, May has incorporated Rolland pedagogy into all areas of her teaching. She has presented on Rolland techniques at several national and international conferences, and is co-director of the annual University of Illinois Paul Rolland String Pedagogy Workshop. She has received various awards for teaching, including the Mary Hoffman Award for Teaching Excellence by Illinois Music Educators Association, Educator of the Year and Distinguished Service Award from the Illinois American String Teacher’s Association, and Teacher Recognition Award for the Presidential Scholar Program in Washington, D.C. by the U.S. Department of Education. She is immediate past national orchestra council chair of the National Association for Music Education.

Joanne Erwin: Lower Strings Pedagogy

Joanne Erwin currently is Adjunct Cello Professor at Rowan University and conductor of the Rowan University Community Music Youth Orchestra. Having recently retired from Oberlin Conservatory she is Professor Emerita of Music Education, earned her Bachelor’s (magna cum laude) and Master’s degree in Music Education at University of Illinois. She had the pleasure of working in the Rolland String Project upon completion of his String Pedagogy course. In addition she attended summer ASTA workshops in Europe with Rolland and Fischbach and Young. After teaching strings in public schools in Illinois and Texas she went on to earn her Ph.D. in String Pedagogy at University of North Texas. She has performed as a cellist in the Fort Worth Symphony and has directed youth orchestras in Texas and in Ohio. She has maintained a private cello studio throughout her career in traditional and Suzuki approaches. At Oberlin she taught String Methods, Conducting and String Pedagogy with an outreach project patterned after Rolland’s. She has presented at conferences and conducted festival orchestras both nationally and internationally. She is a co-author for New Directions for Strings, A Scale in Time, Strings Premiere, Prelude to Music Education and written other articles for American String Teacher and Teaching Music.

Steve Bingham: “Gear Without Fear”, and Tech Clinic

Steve Bingham studied violin with Emmanuel Hurwitz, Sidney Griller and the Amadeus Quartet at the Royal Academy of Music from 1981 to 1985, where he won prizes for orchestral leading and string quartet playing. In 1985 he formed the Bingham String Quartet, an ensemble which has become one of the foremost in the UK, with an enviable reputation for both classical and contemporary repertoire.

The Quartet has recorded numerous CDs and has worked for radio and television both in the UK and as far afield as Australia. The group has toured in Europe, the Middle East and Australia and has worked with distinguished musicians such as Jack Brymer, Raphael Wallfisch, Michael Collins and David Campbell. The Quartet’s educational activities have included residencies at London’s South Bank Centre, for several UK festivals and at Radley College. The Quartet is also known for it’s many performances of new works by some of the best young composers in Britain.

Steve has appeared as guest leader with many orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English National Ballet and English Sinfonia. He has given solo recitals both in the UK and America and his concerto performances include works by Bach, Vivaldi, Bruch, Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Sibelius, given in venues as prestigious as St. Johns’ Smith Square and the Royal Albert Hall.

In recent years Steve has developed his interest in improvisation, electronics and World music, collaborating with several notable musicians including guitarist Jason Carter and players such as Sanju Vishnu Sahai (tabla), Baluji Shivastrav (sitar) and Abdullah Ibrahim (piano). Steve also plays live with No-Man, the progressive art-rock duo of Tim Bowness and Steve Wilson.

Steve’s debut solo CD “Duplicity” was released in November 2005, and has been played on several radio stations including BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. His second solo CD, entitled “Ascension”, was released in December 2008 and has since been followed by “Touchable Dreams”, a CD of poetry and violin with Jeremy Harmer, “Third”, an eclectic mix of live-looped pieces, and in 2014 “The Persistence Of Vision”, which features the amazing Bach D minor Partita, and works by Michael Nyman. Steve has also released many single tracks, and has an active YouTube channel featuring many weird and wonderful video creations!

Beyond performing on the violin Steve is a conductor of some repute, and currently conducts the Ely Sinfonia, Ad Hoc Sinfonia and City of Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, with guest appearances with several other ensembles. Steve is a committed teacher, and is Editor and Webmaster for the European String Teachers Association (UK). He coaches on many chamber music courses as well as giving regular school workshops to all age groups. He is particularly known for his communication skills and enthusiasm. Steve is also Joint CEO of PartPlay, an exciting online music service for chamber musicians.

Mark O’Connor: String Method

“One of the most spectacular journeys in recent American music.” – The New York Times

“One of the most talented and imaginative artists working in music — any music — today.”– The Los Angeles Times

“Brilliantly original.” – The Seattle Times

“The audience was on its feet . . . They were moved by Mr. O’Connor’s journey without maps, cheering for the only musician today who can reach so deeply first into the refined, then the vernacular, giving his listeners a complex, sophisticated piece of early-21st-century classical music and then knocking them dead with the brown-dirt whine of a Texas fiddle.” – The New York Times

Mark O’Connor began his creative journey at the feet of American fiddling legend Benny Thomasson, and the iconic French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Now, at age 55, he has melded these influences into a new American classical music, and is perpetuating his vision of an American School of String Playing. Mr. O’Connor has won three Grammys, seven CMA awards as well as several national fiddle, guitar and mandolin champion titles. His distinguished career includes representing the United States Information Agency in cultural diplomacy to six continents and performing in front of several U.S. presidents including being invited to the White House by President Ronald Reagan to perform as a teen.

After recording a series of albums for Rounder and Warner Bros including his multiple Grammy-winning New Nashville Cats, his recordings for Sony Classical with Yo-Yo Ma, Appalachia Waltz and Appalachian Journey sold a million CDs and gained O’Connor worldwide recognition as a leading proponent of a new American musical idiom.

Mr. O’Connor’s Fiddle Concerto released on Warner Bros. has become the most-performed violin concerto composed in the last 50 years. On his own OMAC Records label, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra recorded his sweeping AmericanaSymphony while his groundbreaking 9th concerto, The Improvised Violin Concerto was recorded in Boston Symphony Hall. His new touring group, the Mark O’Connor Band consisting of family members (wife, son and daughter-in-law) debuted at #1 on Billboard Magazine’s bluegrass album chart and their first album Coming Home won a Grammy in 2017. Mr. O’Connor is set to release his 47th feature album on June 7th, 2017, an exciting new CD, O’Connor Band Live!

Mr. O’Connor has authored a series of educational books called the O’Connor Method and is now the fastest growing violin method in the country and tens of thousands can credit the O’Connor books for learning how to play stringed instruments. The O’Connor Method features American music styles, creativity, cultural diversity and western classical technical training. Mr. O’Connor currently is artist-in-residence with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, touring nationally with the O’Connor Band and resides in North Carolina with his wife and fellow bandmate Maggie O’Connor. For more information, please see

Jane Fenton: Yoga for Musicians

Jane Fenton – Release and Breathe.

Jane is an active chamber and orchestral musician. She received her performance diploma from the Guildhall School of Music where she studied with Stefan Popov and Raphael Wallfisch. It was there that she worked with David Takeno and became one of the founding members of the Guildhall String Ensemble. She has gone on co-found the International Music festival in Alcala. Jane played regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and was principal cellist with Glyndebourne Touring Opera for eighteen years. She is currently principal cellist with Garsington Opera. Jane is a qualified ITEC massage therapist and is a yoga teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga, having completed her training in 2003 under Peter Blackaby in Brighton. Jane has taught yoga as an aid to performance in schools as part of the secondary school curriculum and is convinced of the benefits it can bring to every aspect of a musician’s life.

Paul Harris: Getting the Best out of Pupils

After studies at the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London, Paul Harris has now established an international reputation as one of he UK’s leading educationalists.

He studied the clarinet with Professor John Davies, winning the August Manns Prize for outstanding playing/composition with Timothy Baxter and conducting with Maurice Miles. He then went on to study music education at the University of London where he was a pupil of Professor Keith Swanwick.

He now has nearly six hundred publications to his name mostly dealing with a vast array of subjects concerning music education. His Music Teacher’s Companion (co-written with Richard Crozier), won the UK’s MIA Best New Book award. In addition he has written many works ranging from short education pieces to seven concerts, a ballet and a children’s opera.

He writes regularly for many of the major international music magazines, including Music Teacher, BBC Music Magazine, the ABRSM’s Libretto, and the American ICA journal, and is in great demand as a workshop and seminar leader and adjudicator in the UK, the USA and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. Paul has also undertaken research into specialist music education for the highly talented (the clarinet prodigy Julian Bliss number among his pupils), an interest that has taken him to many musical institutions around the world. He has presented a paper on teaching gifted young musicians at a convention at the University of Oklahoma.

He is an examiner and adjudicator ad is frequently asked to take part in national events including the Chamber Music for Schools Competition, Music for Youth, the BBC Young Musician of the Year and he is a regular judge for Classic FM’s teacher of the year. He has also co-authored (with Anthony Meredith) major new biographies of Sir Malcolm Arnold, (Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius), and Malcolm Williamson, (Malcolm Williamson: Mischievous Muse) and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett.

In 2006 Paul Harris’s commitment to the music of Arnold led to the establishing of an annual Malcolm Arnold Festival in the composer’s hometown of Northampton. Under his directorship, this exciting festival explores and celebrates – through a packed weekend of concerts, lectures and films – the music of one of the great British composers of our age. Paul’s innovative teaching techniques have found support all over the world and combine thoroughness, imagination and practicality, the defining qualities of his outstandingly successful work.

Lucy Hare: Proud to Practise and The Magic of Making Mistakes

Lucy Hare – Musician (Double Bass) and Coach

Lucy has been a freelance bass player for 30 years playing in a huge variety of styles and places including BBCSO, LPO, Royal Opera House, BBCCO and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures dance company. For 10 years she ran an Argentinean tango quintet, Tango Volcano and became an obsessive tango dancer. A love of Celtic and Latin music began from being a founder member of the Oxford Concert Party, a whacky group of six musicians who have produced 8 CDs and one cookery book, and spent as much time working in prisons as they have in concert halls.

Her coaching work has taken her into corporate settings as well as many music colleges and orchestras. Lucy is a trainer for Barefoot Coaching, one of UK’s foremost coaching organisations. She is passionate about bringing energising and creative coaching work to performers everywhere.

Professor Laura Ritchie: Teaching and Learning

Laura Ritchie is Professor of Learning and Teaching in Music. She is a teacher, mother, musician, and dreamer. She is recognised as an educational innovator and was awarded a UK National Teaching Fellowship in 2012.

At the University of Chichester she coordinates both the Music with Instrumental / Vocal

Teaching and the MA Performance programmes. Laura has also co-authored the curriculum for the European String Teachers Association Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching, which is an international, distance learning course. Laura trained as a classical cellist in America (Northwestern University) and London (Royal College of Music) and her PhD research focused on psychology of music and specifically the impact of students’ self-beliefs on learning and performing. In her academic publications and presentations she promotes excellence across disciplines in teaching and learning, and in particular provides innovative ways to unlock student potential through practical teaching settings.

Laura pushes the boundaries of learning for her students and herself. She advocates experiential learning and fully immerses herself in learning projects, teaching by example. She works across disciplines to actively advocate open education and cross-cultural learning with projects such as her open music class #MUS654, cross-disciplinary collaborations with Jonathan Worth and #Phonar, Connecting Classes, and Connected Courses.

Sarah Upjohn: Preventing Injuries in Young Players

Sarah Upjohn qualified as a physiotherapist from the Bristol School of Physiotherapy in 1983 and gained extensive clinical experience in the UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.

Between 1994 and 2002 she was a Senior Lecturer on the BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy course at the University of Hertfordshire, obtaining an MA in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in 1997.

Since 2008 she has worked in the field of Performing Arts Medicine, specialising in assessing and treating instrumental musicians.

She has a particular interest in the ergonomics and bio-mechanics of instrumental playing, and in prevention of playing-related injuries.

Sarah is the physiotherapist at The Purcell School for Young Musicians, and works for the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) where, in addition to being a member of their Medical Committee, she is an assessing clinician, and part of their trainer network.

Additionally, Sarah is a member of the Healthy Conservatoires Network, and of the Musicians Health Advisory Board of Help Musicians UK (HMUK).

In 2011 she began a Doctorate of Education (EdD) at the University of Cambridge.

Sarah’s Doctoral research is a project aimed at increasing awareness of risk factors for playing-related injury in young musicians, in order to decrease the incidence of these injuries in pupils at the school.

Dan and Joe, Cardiff Violins: Instrument Maintenance

Dan King

As the son of Chris King of Cardiff Violins, Dan grew up surrounded by stringed instruments. He studied the cello as a child and soon found a passion for the repair and maintenance of antique instruments, following in the footsteps of his father. Upon finishing school it was inevitable that he’d join the workshop on a full-time basis.

Over the past decade, Dan has set up thousands of instruments and carried out major restorations on all members of the violin family. He has built a personal reputation off the back of his meticulous repair skills and attention to detail with varnish retouch. His skills are very much in demand.

Jo Roach

Joseph Roach was born into a musical family and started playing the violin at the age of four. It was from here that his passion for the instrument grew, developing an interest in the instruments themselves. At the age of 17 he was offered a part-time position at Cardiff Violins as a sales assistant. During this time he expanded his knowledge of the stringed instrument family with a keen interest in tonal adjustment for optimal sound-production. Together with Chris, he has worked on the sound production of hundreds of instruments. Playing remained very important to Joe and resulted in him enrolling at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama to study violin performance alongside his work at the shop. Upon graduating, he joined Cardiff Violins full time in the workshop, where he was rigorously trained and developed his skills in instrument repairs and set-ups.

Presentations

Joanne Erwin: Lower Strings Basics

Lower strings of the Rolland Approach

August 12

The general movement principles related to the lower strings will be established on the first day. This involves sitting for cellos and standing for basses or resting on a stool. The various movements to be done to ensure this is established without tension are pizzicato with left and right hands in various positions. The Left hand will be set in an octave position.

August 13

The focus on this day will be the bow hold. It will begin with preparation steps and move to the actual hold. Each of these steps will involve many silent movement exercises to guide players to a thorough feel of the ergonomic work of the bow hand and arm. The body flexibility, bilateral motion and freedom will also be introduced. Bass German and French bow hold will be presented.

August 14

Some Action tunes will be presented to put the posture, left hand and bow holds into practice with the first steps. These tunes will include Hoedown, The Jig, March, Sweet Eyed Sue. The appropriate sequence for introducing tunes and involving body movement will be discussed.

August 15

More attention on the bow hand and arm will be the focus for this day. The cello and bass have different physical demands in bowing than the upper strings, especially when it comes to extending the bow stroke. The Place and Lift, Rock and Roll and Flying Pizzicati will be some Rolland action studies to aide in the development of the extended bow stroke. We will also introduce the resilience of the bouncing bow and spiccato. The placement and height of rebound are an important factor. The Cradle Song, Barcarolle and other long stroke songs will be played.

August 16

The plan is to move into shifting and vibrato motions on this day. Cello and bass have slower vibrati that are easier to establish than a violin’s. The shuttle will return along with tapping fingers in a different manner than the violins. Vibrato will be added to longer tones in tunes that have been learned. Shifting is a broad arm motion that is development from large motor actions and then brought down to smaller ones.

Mark O’Connor: String Method

American String School Programs – The O’Connor Method

The O’Connor Method for string teachers and students is a 10-Book series designed to guide students gradually through the development of pedagogical and musical techniques necessary to become a proficient, well-rounded musician through a carefully planned succession of pieces. The O’Connor Method is unique in that the solo repertoire corresponds with the string orchestra repertoire so students experience the music they are learning through a different prism. By using the O’Connor Method orchestra books, students can further explore harmony, melody, rhythm, counterpoint, cultural diversity and American music from many eras on the pieces student’s learn in their solo lessons. With the addition of the solo books, it allows soloists to emerge from these programs and with greater amounts of participation and opportunities. This approach using common repertoire is the perfect tool for school programs interested in producing fine string players and creative musicians and playing great American music. The versatility of the music and orchestral arrangements in the O’Connor Method series allows for classes from 3 students to 300! The O’Connor Method solo books have sold in the tens of thousands and is the fastest growing string method of our time!

Paul Harris: Getting the Best out of Pupils

In his talk Getting the best out of pupils Paul considers some of the more psychological aspects of teaching. As virtuoso teachers we need to develop a breath-taking range of qualities. Among them is the necessity to have thought about the deeper and maybe more hidden reasons why pupils behave and respond in certain ways and in what ways our own actions and manner can affect them. What do we need to understand about our pupils? What makes them tick and what makes them behave as they do? How does a pupil’s character actually affect their learning and our perception of their learning? Of what do teachers need to be more generally aware? How does expectation affect learning, and what are the positives and negatives of using praise? How can we use questions to enrich rather than hinder learning? What is success all about? How can we deal with different kinds of difficult pupils and what causes some to be difficult?

Effective teaching is very much enhanced by the more profound knowledge afforded by the understanding and consideration of these and other related issues –areas that are outside the principal spheres of teaching technique, repertoire and musical language. – Paul will discuss these in a practical and immediately accessible manner.

Professor Laura Ritchie: Teaching and Learning

The pathway from what the teacher knows to her student’s understanding can be a bumpy road. This session explores how and why we choose certain methods of explaining, showing, or doing in lessons to communicate effectively with each individual learner. We’ll learn teaching techniques such as different types of modelling and using clear step-by-step approaches to de-stigmatise ‘hard’ topics that students encounter at various levels, include technicalities of introducing the bow hold, practice strategies for gaining speed and fluidity, and opening creative doors to musicality. We may even manage to fit in Galamian scales as something fun!

Jane Fenton: Yoga for Musicians

This type of Yoga is about grounding and releasing the body through the breath to find freedom. The body has a natural intelligence when we are able to get ourselves out of the way. This can release us from our habitual patterns of tension and stress in both the body and the mind.

I believe all body work enhances our ability to practice and perform effectively and I feel that Yoga has the added beauty and benefit of the “breath” as its main focus and point of reference. There is great power for change in the breath. I practice and teach breath work that organically and automatically leads us to a place of meditation which is a crucial part of self awareness/development.

I propose to work with very gentle postures and sequences that inform the body and give us choice as we wake up our awareness.

These are the core principles;

Exploring gravity, working with grounding to find the line of gravity in standing and sitting. Optimum position in relationship to gravity and our instruments brings us immense freedom.

Tensegrity – exploring the relationship between tension and release. Being able to return to the still point. Working with the body not against it!

Releasing hips and shoulder joints to find space and freedom in movement.

Working with the breath. Exploring tension and release that exists in everything through gentle breath work that we can use in times of stress (performance anxiety).

Exploring our breath in relationship to the spine – awaking and releasing the spine.

Finding our core – we learn to unfold and open from the inside out; this brings freedom and ease to movement.

Exploring the circle of wholeness – left to right connection. Whole body integration.

Finding stillness in movement and movement in stillness through breath work/meditation

Artesian String Quartet: Chamber Music Coaching

As individuals and as an ensemble we have worked with the country’s top chamber musicians. During our year as chamber music fellows at the Royal Academy of Music we frequently mentored first year string quartets. This experience has taught us that although no one “lesson plan” fits all, there are some general quartet techniques that are always worth covering. We find it is very important to find the right repertoire to each group; should four people who have just started playing together dig in with the popular romantic repertoire? Would it be best for the group to start with something simpler?

The initial play through, which is generally how we like to start sessions, will indicate the level of the group and dictate the type of pace we will be able to work at. For us it is important to encourage the ensemble to be confident enough to experiment with new ideas and different extremes. We often question ourselves and the group why they are playing that particular piece and whether there is something else that would help them progress better and faster. Would it be worth going to a less technically challenging piece and work / let them work on their rehearsal technique without having to worry about how difficult each individual part is, or is it better to learn big repertoire early so it is in the system already when they come back to it a few years later? Younger groups thrive on playing as much well known repertoire. Would sight-reading sessions in their own time help balance the issue, as they could get through repertoire and work seriously on lighter music, or could it be more damaging?

Issues such as intonation and balance will always come up and they are they worth addressing carefully as it will encourage the group to be critical about these things when rehearsing alone. Are all the players listening enough to their own playing and how it relates to everyone else’s parts, or are they so worried about getting everything absolutely perfect in their own part because it is very difficult to them? How well do they know the score? We will often demonstrate rather than encourage lengthy discussions, sometimes we will take the place of one of the ensemble for a phrase or so to try and make our ideas clear. We try to draw on the most positive lessons we have had ourselves and to strike a balance between working on any problem areas whilst also assisting the group to make their own final decisions about what they feel works for them as a group. It is important to experiment with different repertoire and styles and let the group find what type of repertoire suits them best. Is everyone feeling on the same page about that particular choice of repertoire? What is the ultimate outcome everyone wants out of their group?

In this session we will discuss how we address these issues when coaching young chamber groups and how we got around them when we were younger and started the Artesian Quartet, back in first in college. While coaching the chamber groups, we will be open to questions from the audience and will be happy to talk about our individual experience with other groups and our time before college.

Lucy Hare: Proud to Practise and Magic of Making Mistakes

Proud to Practise

How do you motivate your pupils to practise? Do they have more excuses for not having practiced than reasons for having done so?

I will share with you an effective coaching tool that will help you motivate your pupils, both young and adult, to increase the quality and quantity of their practice.

Participants will come away with a technique they can use in a myriad of different ways to help with practice motivation.

The Magic of Making Mistakes

Do you hope not to hear mistakes in your lessons? Honestly? The value of being attentive to our mistakes is often overlooked. So much can be learned, but only if the teacher is genuinely interested in them too.

This workshop will look at how to encourage Marvellous Mistakes and teach an invaluable coaching technique for supporting our pupils through a life long learning process.

Participants will come away with a new understanding of how to work with mistakes, and a creative coaching model to help pupils support themselves.

Steve Bingham: Gear Without Fear, and Tech Clinic

Steve Bingham – ESTA Editor, webmaster and self-proclaimed technophile – will be available all week to answer your technical questions about every aspect of music technology: recording, looping, filming, sampling, amplification, electric instruments, pickups and anything else you have questions about. Setup somewhere within the bowels of the Chichester campus will be Steve’s secret lair; a place full of amps, microphones, wires, electric violins, loop machines, digital recorders, pedals of all sorts, DAWs, apps, and much, much more. Enter at your peril…..but he guarantees that you will leave with your questions answered and your fear of technology (should you have one!) most definitely taking a back seat!

This week-long open clinic will be an interactive area where you can leave you technophobia hanging on a hook at the door and enter a space where you can try out lots and lots of gear without fear. But beware, you may leave Chichester a different person from when you arrived!

Steve will give an introductory session outlining the opportunities for trying out gear and learning about technology, and will be able to offer one-to-one or small group sessions during the week on specific topics of interest to Summer School delegates.

STRING ORCHESTRA ICE BREAKER

For our opening session there’s a chance to meet the ESTA (UK) team and your fellow Summer School delegates over a stand-full of string music! There might even be a chance to have a go at conducting….

Phil Aird, Steve Bingham and Sheila Holdsworth will be there to answer your questions about ESTA (UK), the Summer School, or anything else string-related, and we’ll be playing a variety of string music – both familiar and unfamiliar – under the baton of Steve. There will be a chance for volunteers to conduct a movement or two, and if you have any pieces you’d like the group to try out – perhaps to see if they’d be suitable for your school or adult ensemble, or just because you’ve never had a chance to play them! – please either bring along a full set of parts or let Steve know in advance so that he can source a set (editor@estastrings.org.uk).

This is a relaxed, fun session that we hope everyone will join in with. A great way to get to know everyone at the start of a week of exciting concerts and presentations!

Sarah Upjohn: Preventing Injuries in Young Players

Playing-related injuries in young musicians: incidence, risk factors and prevention. What should you know?

In this session, Sarah will present information about incidence and risk factors for playing-related injuries, and will explain how simple preventive measures can enhance playing, and reduce risk of injury.

By the end of the session, participants will have an understanding of basic anatomy and biomechanics of the upper limb, and an understanding of how knowledge from the fields of sports coaching and dance training can be used to enhance the wellbeing of instrumental musicians.

Cardiff Violins

As last year, Dan and Joe from Cardiff Violins will set up a workshop for the whole week so if you have any work needing doing then book your instrument in. They will be on hand to answer any instrument related questions too.

String Orchestra Ice Breaker

For our opening session there’s a chance to meet the ESTA (UK) team and your fellow Summer School delegates over a stand-full of string music! There might even be a chance to have a go at conducting….

A great way to get to know everyone at the start of the Summer School!

Concert Faculty and Programmes

CONCERT FACULTY

August 11th: “Fire and Ice“, a recital of music and poetry with Steve Bingham and Jeremy Harmer

Steve Bingham is a renowned violinist, leader of the Bingham Quartet, and conductor of several regional orchestras in the east of England. He has become known for his eclectic one-man shows, and has produced four solo albums of music as diverse as Bach, Piazzolla, Michael Nyman and Mike Oldfield!

In another life Jeremy Harmer is an internationally acclaimed education writer in the field of English as a foreign language, but in music and performance he is a singer-songwriter (and amateur violist), a performer of prose and poetry and much in demand as a narrator with various ensembles.

August 12th: Mark and Maggie O’Connor

Maggie O’Connor

Violinist and American fiddler Maggie O’Connor performs a variety of musical styles throughout the U.S. and beyond, most recently as a member of the Grammy Award winning O’Connor Band. Frequently performing with her husband, violinist and composer Mark O’Connor, together they have appeared as guest soloists with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Santa Rosa Symphony, the Walla Walla Symphony, the Nashville Symphony with the O’Connor Band, and many other symphony orchestras performing his compositions ranging from his “Strings and Threads Suite” to his “Double Violin Concerto” and “Johnny Appleseed Suite”.

The couple has also performed violin duos around the world, including the Leopold Auer Music Academy Hungary as well as the Berlin Konzerthaus celebrating the centennial birthday of the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin. Maggie tours with the O’Connor Band, whose debut album “Coming Home” won a Grammy Award for “Best Bluegrass Album of the Year” in 2017 at the 59th Grammy Awards.

Along with the O’Connor Band, Maggie has also frequently performed in her husband’s ensembles ranging from “Hot Swing” and “American Classics” to “An Appalachian Christmas”, a hit concert tour taking place each holiday season. Along with performing, Maggie continues to work as co-director with Mark at O’Connor Method String Camps featuring the lesson book series that is rising in popularity each year. Maggie also makes unique violin peg necklaces to raise funds for scholarships at these camps. She is also featured on her and her husband’s album “Duo,” in which David McGee of Deep Roots Magazine claims “As a technician and as an expressive player, she is formidable, has it all. What I find so special about her, apart from the sheer soulfulness abundant in the music she makes, is her uncanny sense of playing off of and with Mark, knowing when to assert herself and when to be empathetic and supportive.”

Growing up in a musical family in the suburbs of Atlanta GA, Maggie started playing the violin at age 7 in a family band. Concurrently, she took classical violin lessons with Larisa Morgulis, a distinguished graduate of the Odessa Conservatory in Ukraine. Playing music with her family band is where Maggie began to develop an ear for arranging, recording, group playing, and improvisation; skills she has embraced throughout her musical life. In her early years, she was a member of numerous bluegrass and rock bands while also being a member and soloist with Atlanta’s top three youth orchestras.

After growing up playing American and classical music styles, Maggie continued her professional training at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University where she studied with violinist Herbert Greenberg earning the Bachelor and the Master of Music degrees in violin performance. She was also a finalist in the Marbury Prize Competition for Undergraduate Violinists while finishing up her Bachelor’s degree with distinction and had the honor of being accepted into the Five Year Advanced Degree Program along with being awarded the Career Development Grant while at Peabody. She was the recipient of full tuition scholarships while studying at the Aspen Music Festival and School for three years. Maggie currently resides in North Carolina with her husband and plays a beautifully handcrafted 1996 violin made by Lukas Wronski.

August 13th: Piano and Strings programme TBC

August 14th: Artesian String Quartet

The Artesian Quartet

The Artesian Quartet have debuted at the BBC Proms, been broadcast on Radio 3, and have toured the UK as well as internationally. They were the 2013/14 St Peter’s Prize Winner Quartet, 2014 Park Lane Group artists and are one of the three 2014/15 ChamberStudio mentorship groups at King’s Place.

Based at the Royal Academy of Music where they are 2014/15 CAVATINA Chamber Music Fellows, the quartet has enjoyed mentoring from musicians of the Belcea, Endellion, Maggini and Takacs Quartets. They have also benefited from the support of the Britten Pears Foundation.

With frequent invitations to give concerts, the Artesians perform regularly in and around London at venues including Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room. On their travels they have enjoyed dates at the Lake District Summer Music Festival, at the Colston Hall in Bristol, as well as at a number of regional music societies.

“…Great control and dynamic subtlety… their playing at once separated and integrated…”

The Strad, April 2014

Managing an increasingly demanding schedule, the quartet’s commitments are balanced with all four player’s opportunities and geographies. The individual versatility of its members creates a characteristic intensity in the overall depth and diversity of the quartet sound. The past twelve months saw a number of exciting projects for the group including recording sessions with Trevor Pinnock. There will also be continuing exploration of contemporary works following successful associations with composers Nicola LeFanu and Paul Patterson.

The Artesians also enjoy larger chamber music. They have formed various associations to perform the Mendelssohn Octet, Verklarte Nacht and Souvenir de Florence and have given a number of collaborative lecture recitals performing Schubert’s C Major Quintet. Upcoming projects include performances of the Arensky Quintet.

String Quartet in F major Op. 96 – Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

Dvořák arrived in New York on 17 September 1892 from Prague to take up his duties as director of the National Conservatory. Despite his obligations on the job and as a visiting celebrity, Dvořák continued composing. By the end of the season he was feeling very homesick and was invited by Papa Kovarik, a school teacher and choir master in Spillville, Iowa, to spend the summer in Spillville – a small 300 resident village made out of Czech immigrants who preserved the language and culture of their native land. On 5 June, Dvořák arrived in Spillville with his wife, six children, sister, maid and secretary. Perhaps stimulated by being surrounded by his culture, Dvořák started writing the String Quartet in F major Op. 96 three days later and completed the first sketches only 72 hours later. He added to the end of the manuscript “Thanks be to the Lord God. I am satisfied. It went quickly” and completed the quartet on 23 June. Eager to hear his new work, Dvořák took a violin (even though we worked back home as an orchestral viola player) and invited three members of the Kovarik family to play it through with him. He started writing a string quintet the following day, which he completed on 1 August. Both pieces were premiered by the Kneisel Quartet in Boston on New Year’s day 1894. The quartet begins with a shimmering background that serves as a cushion to the pentatonic tune introduced by the viola. The tune is followed by a second theme presented by the first violin, also pentatonic – a common feature in folk songs around the world. The slow movement is marked by the depth of expression and lyrical beauty of the first melody, sung on top of a sad and sustained, yet flowing accompaniment by the 2 nd violin and viola, that make the movement and emotional melancholic aria. It is shaped like an arch, starting quietly and building to an impassioned climax before fading to a subdue close nostalgically played by the cello one last time. The third movement is in ABABA form, although the B section is only a slower and minor version of the A section. The major section is very lively and dance-like, while the minor section sounds very mysterious. The middle section of the 1 st theme is based on a song of the scarlet tanager which Dvořák picked up during his walks around the village. Legend says the bird alighted by his window and started singing the tune Dvořák borrowed for this movement (“this damned bird… red, with black wings”). The quartet ends with a Rondo Finale that begins immediately with a rhythmic pattern that may be an adaptation of an Indian drumming. A couple bars later, the 1 st violin announces a joyful tune with and around the beat, followed by other melodies with the same spirited humour. Dvořák slows down the tempo in the middle of the movement with a chorale, probably derived from one o the hymns he played on the organ for services at Saint Wenceslas in Spillville. There is a short restatement after the chorale that ends the work with great joyous optimism.

String Quartet op. 11, Samuel Barber (1910-81)

Samuel Barber is regarded as one of the great American 20th century composers. Also an accomplished baritone, the Pennsylvania-born composer believed that the music language and variety of the Romanticism still had the potential to surprise and for innovation. Barber’s writing is very accessible, lyrical, tonal and often evokes the human voice. Despite the parallel school of intellectual composers influenced by Schönberg’s serialism, Barber managed to write in a way that connected to the public and to stay true to his vision. Many of his works are well established and remain popular in the repertoire.

The String Quartet op. 11 was written between 1935 and 1936, but kept being revised until 1943. Barber was at the American Academy in Rome after receiving the Prix de Rome scholarship. He first mentioned his string quartet in a letter to his classmate and friend Orlando Cole (with whom he worked closely when writing the Cello Sonata op. 6, later dedicating it to him) on 6 May 1936: “I have vague quartettish rumblings in my innards and need a bit of celestial Ex Lax to restore my equilibrium; there is nothing to do but get at it, and I will send the excrements to you by registered mail by August…”. Cole was the cellist of the Curtis Quartet, a pioneer string quartet regarded as the foremost string quartet in America, and Barber wanted his quartet to premiere his work in Italy during their upcoming tour in Europe. Towards the end of the summer, optimistic Barber wrote to Cole “I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today— it is a knockout! Now for a finale.” However, writing the finale proved to be more difficult than Barber was predicting. He didn’t finish the quartet in time for the Curtis Quartet tour, leaving him very disappointed. On 31 August Barber wrote “It is coming along slowly, but will not be ready in time. The best thing will probably be for me to have it tried out by the Rome quartet in rehearsal, and then I can send it over to you from Rome.” After an extension to his scholarship, he went to a small cabin in the remote town St Wolfgang in Austria with his colleague and partner Gian Carlo Menotti, where he wrote the majority of his quartet. Meanwhile, Felix Lamond, head of composition of the American Academy, appointed the Belgian Pro Arte Quartet for the premiere. Barber wasn’t pleased with this decision, however, as he had recently heard a recording of Schubert Quintet by the Pro Arte Quartet and found it very unsatisfactory. The quartet finally premiered on 14 December 1936 at the Villa Aurelia in Rome by the Pro Arte Quartet. Barber was dissatisfied with the finale and immediately retracted it for revision after the performance. In a trip to America in 1938 and after important performances by the Curtis and Gordon Quartets, Barber picked up the yet to revise last movement and put it all together. The Curtis Quartet performed the revised version on the 15 March 1938 in the Town Hall. The third movement wasn’t well received by critics, as evident by the New York Times review by Howard Taubman who said first movement showed “virility and dramatic impact”, the second movement was “the finest of the work, deeply felt and written with economy, resourcefulness and distinction.” The last movement was “a scrappy working out of unexciting ideas…”. Unhappy with the critiques, Barber scrapped the last movement revised it once again. He literally ended up cutting the ending of the first movement and used it as a postscript to the second movement. The final form of the work was premiered at the Library of Congress in Washington DC by the Budapest Quartet on 28 May 1943.

The music in this quartet has great lyricism and expression, surprising for its time between the two World Wars. The first movement is packed with sticky diversity and colourful contrasts, starting off with dramatic motifs in unison, followed by a choral-like section and lyrical melody to finish. The middle movement was originally intended to be an intimate experience for string quartet. Barber arranged it for string orchestra in 1936, naming it “Adagio for Strings” and became a widely familiar piece to everyone around the globe, probably due to the fact that it is written in such a way that grants direct access to people’s emotions. It is also regarded as an American treasure of the American music. The ‘Adagio for Strings’ was played at the funerals of Franklin Delanor Roosevelt and Albert Einstein, broadcast to the nation after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and played in orchestras

around the world in the wake of the 9/11 tragedies. Its solemnity and ardent expression embody feelings of profound loss and grief in a blend of sorrow, hope and beauty. Barber achieved this by writing an expended melody using step intervals and numerous repetitions. The music moves very slowly and resembles Gregorian chant which moves into a powerful climax at the high end of the instruments range. The climax vanishes into one of the greatest movements of silence in all music history.

Costs

Prices for 2019: EARLY BIRD until April 1

ESTA member – £529

ESTA non member – £615

ESTA student member – £450

ESTA student non member – £499

Overseas delegate – £685

We have a limited number of ensuite rooms this year so we’ve created a discount code worth £20 if you don’t mind sharing 1 bathroom between 3 rooms. Use the code Shared to get the discount. If you pay the full price you will automatically get an ensuite room. We do have limited numbers available so book sooner rather than later!

NB! people booking on the student rates will automatically be allocated shared bathrooms!

Daily rates are available:

ESTA member £110

ESTA non member £140

ESTA student member £80

ESTA student non member £110

Please note: If you book individual days and would like overnight accommodation please be aware there will be a £43 charge for each night booked. This includes breakfast. Please note that if you book later rather than earlier you may be in shared bathroom accommodation due to the limited number of ensuite rooms we have available. Many apologies!

Additional Information and FAQs

Registration:

If you are arriving on Sunday August 11th please register with the accommodation office marked number 24 on the campus map, they will book you in and give you your room keys. We will set up a desk with your name tag which you can then pick up. Sheila and Julia will be there from the previous night so don’t worry if you arrive earlier than this. You will be given an ID tag and allocated a room plus a parking permit if needed.

If you are attending separate days, please call Sheila on arrival on 07973 168 204 or Julia on 07910 152460. Please be aware that the mobile signal is poor on campus (for us anyway!) so please leave a message if we don’t answer – we’ll check our phones regularly.

The University accommodation office is very helpful too, they can direct you to the music department on arrival. The office is marked as number 24 on the map.

Departure times:

The course finishes at 1pm on the 16th of August. Lunch on the first day and last day will be served. The University have a check out time of 10am. There will be a place where you can store bags after check out.

Bedding:

Linen and towels provided. The University has some basic toiletries for sale in their accommodation office.

Bar:

There is no bar but in previous years, we have organised our own bar! There are some very nice pubs nearby too.

Contact Numbers:

If you need assistance please call Sheila Holdsworth 07973 168204 or Julia Atkinson 07910 152460. Mobile coverage is poor on campus so please do leave a message-we’ll be checking regularly.

Parking is on site. You will need a permit which we will issue as part of the registration process.

Train Station is approximately 15 minutes walk. There is a taxi rank at the station.

Taxi numbers: Station Taxis 01243 884 884

If you are arriving via Gatwick, there is a direct train from the airport to Chichester. If you need any help with travel email Sheila@estastrings.org.uk and I’ll try my best to help!

Insurance:

ESTA is not responsible for the insurance of any instruments. Please make sure you have adequate insurance cover for your instrument. There will be no lockable storage area as such but your rooms are very near and lockable.

Instruments:

Please remember to bring your instrument – most classes require them!

I play more than one instrument – which shall I use?

This year we mainly have violinists coming so if you fancy bringing your viola along please feel free.

Internet:

Icloud wireless network available in social areas. Separate connection in bedrooms.

Private Consultation:

Lessons etc can be arranged privately with most members of staff. Please feel free to approach them directly during the week. Richard Crozier from the PG Cert course, which is running alongside the summer school, is more than happy to talk to anyone interested for next year’s course. Please feel free to approach him.

Smoking:

There is a non-smoking policy throughout all the buildings and grounds.

Social Rooms/Bedrooms and Facilities:

Check in for accommodation is 3pm, check out 10am. Each bedroom is lockable. This year we have a mix of ensuite and non ensuite rooms. There is a discount of £20 if you don’t mind a non ensuite room. Use the code ‘Shared’ to get this discount and I will automatically allocate you shared bathroom accommodation. Each set of 6 rooms share 2 bathrooms.

NB! people booking on the student rates will automatically be allocated shared bathrooms!

Lounge/Kitchenette with kettles and fridges in Halls of Residence are available for use. Each set of 4 bedrooms has access to a kitchen. The cookers are all non working so no cooking facilities available. Please bring your own tea/coffee/milk/wine if you’d like to make out of hours drinks. Washing machines are available at £1.80 a wash.

Food is served in the dining hall, marked 07 on the campus map. If you have any allergies please do let us know.

Swaps music table:

As last year, we will have a table where you can bring your old unwanted books and swap them for whatever is there! A good chance to take a look at different music without having to buy it.

Trade day:

On the Wednesday we will have some trade stands in the Chapel for you to visit. We would really encourage you to do this as we get a lot of support from them and it’s vital we keep our relationship with them as positive and as healthy as possible. Last year, someone actually bought a viola from them!

Shops near by:

There is a shop on site. It has limited opening hours but is useful! There is a Coop at the bottom of College Road too. The conference office will also sell you washing powder and other items.

Useful stuff:

On the PDF above, the canteen is listed as 07, the office for accommodation is 24 and the music block is 19/20. Parking, if you are driving please park in the long term car park which is situated near block 16. The first small car park you come to is only short term. You will need the long term one. The parking people are a third party company and Chichester tell us they have eagle eyes….you will need a permit which we shall provide!

Event Details

Bursaries

If you are an ESTA UK member you are entitled to apply for bursary.

We have two funds, The Nannie Jamieson Nutshell Fund (NJNF) and the Joan Dickson Chamber Music Fund (JDCMF). The summer school bursaries are supported by the NJNF. We really are very grateful to our sponsors who, over the years, have enabled many people to attend these valuable weeks.

Terms and Conditions

Conditions of booking:

Booking is open to members and non-members of the European String Teachers Association. For details of membership of ESTA(UK) please contact the membership secretary or visit our Join ESTA page.

In case of illness or other circumstances beyond our control we reserve the right to alter advertised presenters but will inform you if this proves necessary.

Payment: Online payment must be made in full. Individual sessions or meals not taken will not be refunded.

Cancellation of booking / Refund policy:

before April 30: 90% refund

before June 30: 50% refund

July onwards: 0% refund.

Request for media coverage:

ESTA requests permission to take photographs and/or videos for the sole use on the ESTA website and social media. ESTA will never sell or distribute images to third parties. If you do not grant permission please email sheila@estastrings.org.uk

Liability:

ESTA and Chichester University accept no responsibility to loss or damage to instruments or personal belongings. You are strongly advised to provide your own insurance for instruments and other valuables.